I have found a new song for me to like, it's a song version (with lyrics that seem to be widely repeated, I don't know who wrote them, but it could be the person who performs it here) of the Erana's Peace theme from Quest for Glory: So, You Want to Be a Hero?
The song is performed with (understandably) more emotion then the original chip-tune, and I find it just gripping. It didn't occur to me until the 3rd or 4th listen that it's actually a love song. Or what we usually call a love song. You know the usual "I'll do anything, but please, please be with me" song. Erana never actually says she loves the player, but the other tropes are there. Perhaps It's meant to be evocative of motherly love (rather then romantic love), but it's still somewhat odd. which brings to our topic- "love songs".
In truth love songs are great, but I find that something like "Another First Kiss" is a 'love' song, while things like "I Do It For You" are actually 'co-dependence' songs. I mean people killing themselves for you sure boosts your ego and is great for a romance novel plot, but it's not really conducive to a proper relationship. Anyone who ever dated one of those low self-esteem people will tell you that they're not really that fun to be with, despite (and indeed because of) their declarations of how great you are for gracing them with your choice.
The problem, I find, is that we are conditioned to think that love is exactly that- mutual sacrifice. That makes it all the more satisfying when it turns out that yours is a more pleasant experience. It also makes you stay in relationships that aren't doing well, thus (at least before the Age of Enlightenment) boosting the population. The problem is that it's poppycock- love is a pleasant feeling, the opiate, if you pardon the simile, to the pains of your life. It is not some constant uphill battle. As the poet said "Pain is pain, it matters not what name you give, It is fear, where there's fear love just will not live".
